The present disclosure relates to the field of data processing. More particularly it relates to a data processing apparatus configured to generate a trace stream indicative of its data processing operations.
It is known for a data processing apparatus to be configured to generate a trace stream indicative of its data processing operations. For example, such a configuration may be present in the case of a data processing apparatus embodied as an on-chip device, where the trace stream can allow an external observer seeking to debug the device to monitor its operation and gather information about its performance. The items of trace data which make up the generated trace stream may be temporarily buffered at various points in the data processing apparatus. In this context, it is known for the data processing apparatus to be responsive to a flush request to output any trace data which is currently buffered in the apparatus. A register in the device can be used for the device to indicate when it has acted upon a received flush request, such that the external observer can determine that the flush has been actioned by polling this register.